Brandeis International Business School

The China Initiative

The China Initiative supports Brandeis International Business School's significant cohort of students and alumni from China while pursuing research and building relationships with the academic and business communities in China.

Faculty & Research

Faculty members associated with the initiative do research under the auspices of the Asia-Pacific Center.

Peter Petri

Peter Petri

Petri is the Carl J. Shapiro Professor of International Finance at Brandeis International Business School. He served as the founding dean from 1994 to 2006, and again as interim dean from 2016 to 2018. Petri's research focuses on international trade, finance, investment and technological competition with a focus on the Asia-Pacific region.

Gary Jefferson

Gary Jefferson

Jefferson is the Carl Marks Professor of International Trade and Finance. A specialist in the Chinese economy, his research interests include economic development and the economics of innovation with special focus on the economy of China.

Jefferson teaches Econ 30a: The Economy of China and analyzes China's economic transformation, including the restructuring of its enterprise, fiscal, financial and political systems, and the roles of trade, foreign investment and technology in driving China's economic growth.

University Partnerships

Study Abroad

Brandeis International Business School students can take courses in economics and finance at the University of International Business and Economics (UIBE) in Beijing, one of 19 international universities where Brandeis students can study for a semester.

Students can take courses in economics, finance and business beyond those being offered at the International Business School while also absorbing new cultural and business perspectives, making connections around the world and improving foreign language skills.

Opportunities in China

Dean Kathryn Graddy (fourth from right) with alumni, faculty and staff in Beijing.
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Dean Kathryn Graddy (fourth from right) with alumni, faculty and staff in Beijing.

In May 2018, Brandeis International Business School hosted five events attended by hundreds of alumni and admitted students in Shenzhen, Hong Kong, Beijing and Shanghai, as well as current students visiting companies in China as part of the Hassenfeld Overseas Immersion ProgramThe events also served as an introduction to Kathryn Graddy, who weeks earlier was named dean of the business school.

The Brandeis University Alumni Club of Greater China serves as the hub for connecting alumni in China to each other and with the broader Brandeis community. The club has a senior committee and three regional representatives to help coordinate events and outreach efforts: Chang Liu '12 (Beijing), Sean Xiang, MA'09 (Shanghai) and Lan Xue '90, MA'91 (Hong Kong).

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Get Involved

Map of the Asia-Pacific area.

Asia-Pacific Center for Economics and Business

The APC conducts research and outreach on business and economic issues in the Asia-Pacific region, as well as U.S.–Asia-Pacific relations.
Peter Petri at the town hall.

CHINA Town Hall

The event featured an interactive webcast with Chief News Anchor for ABC News George Stephanopoulos and on-site discussion with Professor Peter Petri on the U.S.-China relationship.

Community Engagement: From Boston to China

Vitanova speaking to participants in Shanghai in her pop-up gym.

Bozhanka Vitanova (left) in her "pop up" gymnasium.

Bozhanka Vitanova MA'16 is a founder of the Entrepreneurial Muscle Lab (EML) that uses the methodology of entrepreneurial muscle memory (EMM) to improve their entrepreneurial skills. EMM blends motor learning research and entrepreneurial skills that focuses on abilities such as awareness, agency, networking, resilience, communication and more. The EML sets up pop-up "gymnasiums" around the world that serve as training and research opportunities. In October 2017, Vitanova traveled to Shanghai to set up a pop-up gym that explored whether it would be possible to help adults to find and develop their entrepreneurial muscle memory that had been formed in their earlier, formative years.

"My initial 'discoveries' make me think of how focus and discipline, which are traits more closely associated with China, could continue being the country's competitive advantage in the innovation race. Questioning everything is a core trait for entrepreneurs in the U.S. And discipline/focus leading to deep self-awareness could be the traits that are more authentic for entrepreneurial leaders in China," Vitanova wrote in a Medium blog post after day one of the experiment.